According to ITAR-TASS, Russia's Supreme Court invalidated the separation of a gold field "Chudnoye" for the industrial development from the national park "Yugyd va" in Komi illegal.
The Russian branch of the "Council of Greenpeace" complained on the allocation from the park of 20 square kilometers of land on the western slope of the Ural Mountains, a hundred kilometers from Inta. According to environmentalists, the decision of the government for the withdrawal of areas with approximate gold reserves of 80 tons of the protected area will cause substantial harm to the environment.
Let us recall that the National Park "Yugyd Va" was created by the Komi SSR government decree in 1990. In the 2000s, the area of the park has been revised, which led to the removal of a gold field.
In 2011, the company "GoldMinerals" planned to start gold production at the "queer", invested 18 billion rubles to the project. The company has received a license for exploration and commercial development of the deposit for the period until 2029.
In the autumn of the same 2011, the international NGO «Bankwatch network», the Save the Pechora Committee, social movement of Komi Izhemtsy "Izvatas" and Greenpeace appealed to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with the requirement not to fund the company's gold mining in the national park "Yugyd Va".
In September 2012, Russian Prosecutor General's Office acknowledged the decision of the Ministry of Natural Resources to withdraw from land for the development of gold mining the "Yugyd va" illegal.
However, the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia adopted a new position on the status of the park, which re-fixed removal of "Chudnoye" from the protected area.
In August 2013, Russia's Supreme Court determined enactment of the park approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), which excluded a gold field "Chudnoye" from its territory, ineligible.
As a result, 30 September 2014 the court ruled on the illegality of the allocation of land and permission to use the transport on the territory of the park. Environmentalists commented on the court's decision to «7x7».
Mikhail Kreindlin, lawyer of "Greenpeace Russia":
“Of course, we support the Court's decision, because it suited our requirements. They concluded in recognizing invalid the separation of "Chudnoye" from the National Park "Yugyd Va" as well as paragraph of the Regulation, according to which the users of land have the right to use vehicles in the park within the boundaries of national parks, which is contrary to federal law”.
Nina Ananina, activist of the "Komi Environmentalists":
“This is one of the happiest news for us lately, which invigorates and pleases. Suggestions about the national park have been initiated by the "Komi Environmentalists" and the Save the Pechora Committee. We wrote to "Greenpeace Council" last year with a request to file a lawsuit on behalf of the indigenous people of the Republic of Komi to the fact that we are deprived of our heritage. "Greenpeace" filed in court on the basis of our statement. And the fact that it was approved again, perhaps, is the most important thing we have done for all of our activity”.
Photo: greenpeace.org
Yaroslava Parkhacheva, «7x7»
